Defining health can be very difficult as there are many different theories of health. Health can be defined as the absence of illness and disease or even being a healthy lifestyle and being in a good state of mind. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is an organisation made up of members from the United Nations and they believe that ' 'Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (and a socially and economically productive life) ' '. This definition states that not only is the absence of disease or illness considered good health, but it is also being mentally healthy and socially comfortable too. The definition seems accurate and I have come to agree with it also, as …show more content…
This theory is a scientific way of diagnosing illnesses and diseases as there is either a physical cause or that the body might be invaded by disease or infection. People tend to understand this cause of ill health and tend to follow it more as there is scientific evidence for the illness or disease. Before the 1900s, scientific reasons where unknown, diseases and their causes were thought to be either supernatural or possession by an evil spirit. Some people where seen as witches and burned or stoned to death and others killed because they were 'possessed by the devil ' scientific evidence and epidemiology have been a major effect on today 's diagnosing and treating of illnesses and mental health.
The biomedical model of health focuses on both the physical or biological aspects of disease and illness. This model of health has been evolving for many years leading to improvements in medical science, technology, increase in cures and treatments such as an increase in vaccinations and
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Medicine is believed to be the social institution that diagnoses, treats and prevents a disease. Preventive medicine is a more recent approach, which emphasises health habits that prevent disease, including eating healthier, getting sufficient exercise and insuring a safe environment. Sociology suggests that a functioning society depends upon healthy people and upon controlling illness. Although many believe that science alone determines illness, this sociological view, points out that society determines sickness as well. For example, the culture defines diseases as legitimate if they have a clear “scientific” or laboratory diagnosis, such as cancer or heart disease.
An example for the sociological model of health is known as “Go For Your Life Strategy” this organisation is made up of different government and non-government stakeholders, who have targeted approach to educate the whole community and encourage all to adopt a healthier
Outlined within this essay are two sociological theories which have been investigated this will be in conjunction with a contemporary health issue. This then will be related to how the individual’s lifestyle and social class to give the reader a better understanding of this health issue.
Overtime, sociology has played an essential role in the aid of healthcare policies and procedures, along with playing a fundamental role in one’s understanding of health inequalities. This paper explores how sociology has played such a role in healthcare, whilst including discussions regarding the influence of social structures and inequalities in the health of an individual, their family and community, with the topic of health variations between social classes being the main focus of the discussion. A structured overview, review and evaluation of a specific health policy in the UK will also be provided within this paper. Sociology in healthcare. Sociology can be defined in a number of ways, due to its almost limitless scope (Denny, Earle,
First, the sociological model of health provides more value on the social, economic and environmental causes of disease such as cancer for example, rather than only focusing on the biological aspect such as the medical model. Therefore, health and disease prevention is a key aspect, instead of relying on the treatment alone. Although medicine is frequently still required for treatment, the focus however is still primarily on self help and community activity. Furthermore, by finding the source of the issue and solving the cause, the problem is less likely to return or resurface. In other words, the sociological model of health is the preferred model for studying and examining diseases issues such as cancer as it relates to most important working
Health is described as “the general condition of the body or mind, especially in terms of the presence or absence of illness or impairments.” Health can also be defined as “the overall condition of something in terms of soundness, vitality and proper functioning” (Oxford, 263). From the definitions of health given, one can either be in good health or in unhealthy.
In this essay I am going to investigate whether health is easily defined as the absence of disease or physical injury. According to Health psychology (2009) ‘World Health Organisation defined health as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. In order to achieve good physical a nutrition diet is needed, healthy BMI, rest and adequate physical exercise is needed.
Puffjacket. ( 2010) Why Is Health Difficult To Define? [online] Available at: http://www.etudier.com/dissertations/Why-Is-Health-Difficult-To-Define/35259.html [Accessed:5 Jan 2014].
The biomedical model of health has been criticised because it fails to include the psychological and social causes relating to an individual’s medical illness or health, looking only at the biological causes (Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Therefore, sociologists being aware of the impacts of social structure and lifestyle on health have put in various efforts to place the study of ‘the social’ at the core of health and healthcare examination.
Following Baum’s reasoning, the Biomedical Model is centred upon the treatment of health problems. For example if a person has a disease or falls ill the Biomedical Model’s focus is towards the body’s physical processes, which includes biochemical, pathological and physiological (Fanany, 2012). This diagnostic approach involves firstly, locating the cause of the illness (the pathogen), and secondly, treating the illness accordingly using Westernised medical interventions (such as drugs or surgery).
Two types of illnesses related to this are chronic illness (lasting/terminal) and acute illness (minor e.g. the flu). Criticism of the mechanistic model is that it is slightly simplistic and may not always apply because the body cannot always be repaired. The second model is the 'Naturalistic Model', which refers to the notion of equilibrium. In order for the body to remain healthy, there must be a balance. Chinese medicine relies greatly on this notion i.e.
When studying in the field of Sociology everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. No two people are going to have the exact same view on a particular subject. There are however, three major categories in which people might choose to approach topics. The approaches are know as sociological perspectives and are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. These perspectives name different ways in which different people choose to analyze a subject, and how they look at a society as a whole. The following paragraphs compare and contrast the three, and identify major characteristics of each.
This also requires the person to be socially and economically productive in order to be seen as healthy. According to Mildred Blaxter (1990), there are different ways of defining health. Furthermore, disease can be seen as the presence of an abnormality in part of the body or where there is a harmful physical change in the body such as broken bones. So, illness is the physical state of disease, that is to say, the symptoms that a person feels because of the disease. However, there is some limitation of these definitions which is not merely an absence of disease but a state of physical, mental, spiritual and social wellbeing.
It is fairly difficult to define health as there are no agreements between scholars. This is why many sociologists focus their research on the different issues and problems of ill health.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) came up with the most commonly used definition for health, which has not changed for over 60 years. They say that it is ‘’a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’’ (WHO, 1948), therefore meaning there are many more things to consider with health other than just death rates.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its broader sense in its 1948 constitution as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" (Who,1946).
What does it mean to be healthy? Health is a state of complete physical , mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease, illness or infirmity. It is important to distinguish between disease and health. Disease is the prognosis of a particular disorder with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms. On the other hand, illness is the existence of disease